From Venice, we took the bullet train to Bologna and then jumped on the regional train to Rimini. Being it was Friday the train was crowded with students who attend school in Bologna and then travel home on the weekends. It was every man for himself trying to get seats. Stella and I found a couple seats in a four seater.
We got off the train in Rimini and walked to our hotel located along the Adriatic Sea. The weather was still fairly warm, but the water was not. We did sit on the beach for a bit to enjoy the ocean.
The next day we caught the bus back to the train station and then got our tickets for the bus to San Marino. It is the 5th smallest country and is entirely surrounded by Italy. The country is about 24 sq miles with a population of just under 33,600. Founded in 301AD, it claims to be the oldest sovereign state. It uses the Euro as currency, but is not pat of the European Union. There are many people who go there just for the shopping as it is duty free. We got our passports stamped at the tourist office for €5. We then proceeded up the steep streets to check out the famous towers. The guys hung with us for the first tower and then went for a beer. Stella and I walked to check out the second tower as well. The views were incredible. We then met back up with the guys and had a really nice lunch at one of the local cafes.
Walked round some more and also checked out the coin and stamp museum. It was an interesting history to learn about San Marino. They even have permission to mint their own Euros. Got back on the bus for our ride back into Rimini. The night before, we had heard a band called Easy Ground. They were playing again that night at the Bounty, a pirate themed restaurant. Well, the food was okay, but the music was still good. So, it was a win.
The next morning, we were off to Florence. We arrived and took a look at the taxi line from hell. We decided to just walk it. Google brought us to the wrong apartment door, but it’s happened to others before and our host knew right where to come get us. Got settled in and found the grocery store. We decided to have a meal in that night.
I wasn’t feeling that great. I think I got something from that crowded train. The guy across from me had been coughing like crazy. I managed to power through the day as we had a tour scheduled to drive the Fiat 500’s. We needed to take a taxi there, which was easier said than done. We kept getting hung up on when calling and the taxi app wasn’t working for us either. So, we stopped at a hotel and the desk clerk was nice enough to call a taxi for us. We had actually used the same tour company 9 years ago. They had changed their name and location so I didn’t think it was the same one. Sadly “Rosario”, our little car from last time had passed on to the junk yard in the sky. This time we got a little red one that was built in 1966. It was a nice drive through the Tuscan countryside. And of course, the wine tasting and lunch after were great.
The next day we had tickets to the Uffizi museum. Since I still wasn’t feeling well, I took the morning off while the others went to tour the museum. They came back and got me for lunch. Had a nice lunch at the Trattoria Ancio Fattoire. It was very good, but we were stuffed. So, we decided to walk around a bit and figure out logistics for getting to the tour the next day. Came back to the apartment so I could crash out once again.
The following morning, we were up early and walked to the train station We took the tram to get to the meeting point. It was going to be a full day. We started in Siena. We did a waking tour around the historic center and the Cathedral.
Next stop was lunch and a wine tasting at one of the local wineries. It was very nice and we enjoyed talking to everyone at our table.
Back on the bus to the picturesque town of San Gimignano. Another hilltop town with some amazing views and a lot of history. We had about an hour there. Just enough time to grab a gelato and take a walk through town.
Our last stop was Pisa. Yes, we had to check out the leaning tower. Again we had just enough time to walk around the famous monuments and then back on the bus. I was a full a day with the tour itself lasting about 12 hours. It was a good way to get a taste of those places. We wouldn’t have had time to do it on our own.
We were a little hungry, so went to check out Mister Pizza. It’s an Italian chain that does gluten-free pizza. It really was quite good. I may have to try and find another Mister Pizza.